Get Lippie Lip Marker at Topshop

I'm a well-known fashion icon.  No really, stop sniggering at the back, my love of a comfy shoe, an elasticated trouser, a button-thru cardigan, a red lip, the sequinned Ugg, and, of course, my repeated use of the singular instead of the plural constantly marks me out as one of the most fashionable beauty bloggers writing today.  It's safe to say that my Motley Crue hoody has become a hot fashion classic in the six months I've been championing wearing one.

So, of course, when Top Shop were casting about for a beauty blogger to name a new beauty product after, it should come of no surprise that "Get Lippie" was top of their list.  Naturally, I'm deeply flattered, but bearing in mind my reputation as the Cindy Crawford of beauty bloggers, it comes as no real surprise! Me and Kate Moss, we're like that, you know.  I even went to Fashion Week once, and, let's face it, I taught A Model Recommends everything she knows*.

A bright, raspberry pink, the new Get Lippie Lip Marker from Topshop is a joy to use, the bullet point allows you to line your lips, and you can use the side of the bullet to fill in.

It wears fairly well, though if you eat a three course meal wearing it, you will suffer a little touch of the red ring of doom, but hey, if you you're as fashion as me, you won't, of course, be eating any meals, will you?

The colour is buildable:

The air kisses (dahlink) are two layers,  and shows the depth of colour you can get.  So fashion.  So very, very, fashion.

Best of all, it's got my name on it ...

Hang on, they spelled it wrong!  You don't think ... no, it can't be ... it wouldn't be a COINCIDENCE, would it?


Balls.  I'm going to work in  my pyjamas and Uggs.  Don't try and stop me.





* About booze, admittedly.

The Fine Print: PR sample.  It's safe to say Sir Phillip Green won't be asking me to design my own range of fashion classics any time soon.  DAMN HIS EYES.
 
This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Five Minute Face Favourites

 
I'm a big fan of quick face fixes, and these are some of my favourite products of all to use at the moment. Some days, I just can't be bothered with three or four different shades of eyeshadow, and a tonne of base products, so this is what I use when I really need to look polished in a hurry.

Base and cheeks:

Chantecaille Just Skin tinted moisturiser in Glow

Stila Convertible Colour in Lillium and
(occasionally) MAC Studio Fix foundation in NC30.

I love the Chantecaille Just Skin formulation, it's excellently pigmented, and feels like it's doing your skin good when you're wearing it.  I like that you can also build coverage with it - feel like it's too sheer?  Add a bit more.

Then a dab of cream blush, I like Lillium because it's a nice, neutral rose shade, and I find it goes with lots of looks.

Occasionally, if I need a less dewy finish, I'll add a dab of Studio Fix in NC30.  I find it great for toning down high colour, and mattifying a slightly too glowy skin.  Really needs buffing in though, if you don't want to look too powdery.

Eyes:

Tom Ford Cream Eyeshadow in Platinum
Illamasqua Liquid Liner in Havoc
Benefit They're Real mascara

The Tom Ford cream eyeshadow has very, very quickly become a staple in my handbag, and a quick smear over the eyelid with my finger very easily gives a quick, neutral and polished look to the eyes.  Illamasqua make the very, very best liquid liners on the planet, as far as I'm concerned, and Havoc is a glorious ox-blood shade that's not quite as harsh as full on black, but still has a bit of an edge.

Benefit They're Real has taken a very long time to grow on me, but it's now very much my mascara of choice.  Lengthening, separating, and it never, ever flakes, it's a very good mascara indeed.

Lips:

Dior Smoothing Lip Polish in pink and coral

I picked up these Dior smoothing lip polishes in Paris last year, and I really like them, they add a little touch of milky colour to the lips without looking too pastel, and keep my kisser in tip-tip condition during this cold, wet weather.

Swatches:

What're your favourite products at the moment?

The Fine Print: Purchases and samples all mixed up.  I'm a rebel ...

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

L'Occitane Baux Shower Gel

I'm not saying MrLippie is a creature of habit, but …






May I present you bottles (L-R) seven, eight and NINE of his favourite shower gel?

It's delicious, and WAY better than the vile Lynx Africa gloop he used to use!

Lippie Wedding Update - We Need Help!

 Nothing really goes smoothly during wedding planning, hmn?  At this time last week, we had everything set, the ceremony was booked, the reception was booked, the invites were printed, the guest list was drawn up, the cakes had been ordered, the photographer booked, the hairdresser arranged, the bouquet picked out, the band arranged, practically everything! Not to mention that I had literally just bought my wedding dress!

Then, a week ago today, we got  the email (well, one them, anyway) that every about-to-be married couple dreads. Our reception venue has gone bust, and can no longer honour our booking.  Now, on the one hand, we're very lucky, we still have nine months left to arrange everything , and we hadn't had to pay a deposit, so financially we haven't really lost out - okay, we have lost the money on our now useless invitations though, but we'll live - but I can't even begin to express what a kick in the teeth having to start the planning stages all over again is.  I'm heartbroken, truly.  Especially when you consider that it took me FIVE attempts just to book a damn register office!


The major problem is that our budget is very, very tight, and our guest list is long - we're having a tiny ceremony, and having only one reception that everyone is going to, no wedding breakfast, just one big party for all of our friends - so this is where you guys come in.  We need help finding a venue for our wedding reception.  I'm begging you, please help me out.


Here's what we need from the venue:


DATE:

February 16th 2013


MUST:

be able to hold 150-200 people - standing buffet-style, not all-seated.
allows live music - we already have a band arranged
allow children - just a few, but it's non-negotiable
have a minimal hire charge - we can guarantee a (very) healthy minimum spend on the night, but if one more venue gets in touch saying "Hey, we're cheap" only for me to discover that their hire charge starts at £3,500 to hire for the evening,  I will cry.  More than happy to pay a deposit too, by the way.
be in West London - we are getting married at 4pm, so travelling across London at that time won't be fun!  Chelsea/Kensington/Fulham/Hammersmith/Shepherds Bush area as a first choice, but we will consider further afield if the need arises.
Can either cater, or allow us to bring in our own food

Basically what we want is a bar, a nice comfortable bar that will let us take over the place for the evening, and let us do our own thing, essentially.  No formal wedding meal, no bloody toastmasters directing the "ceremonies",  nothing too formal.  What we're keen to avoid is a community hall, or a more traditional "wedding banquet" venue. Well, at the moment, we are, anyway!


So, please get in touch with wedding@getlippie.com if you think you can help, or if you can put me in touch with someone who can help, we'll be ever so grateful!  

I got in touch with FIFTEEN venues last week myself, do you know how many replied to my simple request for information?  One.  ONE.  There's a recession on, don't people want to take my money?

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Benefit That Gal Limited Edition

Oh, now this is cute. To celebrate the Jubilee and the Olympics, Benefit are bringing out a limited edition version of their popular That Gal primer.  The product remains the same, but the packaging has had a "British" (read: London) - centric makeover.  Let's take a look:

 

It's certainly cute, and continues onto the tube itself:

But this is Get Lippie, and I'm all about what's inside.  I don't think I've reviewed this before, so here goes.  That Gal is a pink facial primer, that has brightening effects when used.   The rube has a wind up mechanism, and you apply the product to you face, direct from the tube, even though it's a liquid product:

Don't tell me I'm the only one thinking about the playdo barbershop, right now.

On the skin it's slight tint helps even out skintone, and leaves you looking glowing, allegedly:

You don't need a huge amount to cover your whole face, and this is best used under your foundation, but you can also add a dab to areas of your face on top of your base to add a little glow too:

It's a nice product, but ... I find it smells unearthly sweet so tend to use very, very little indeed and then can't bring myself to put it all over my face.  


But hey!  Pretty box ...


 The Fine Print: PR Sample.


This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Benefit Sun Beam

You might have noticed a theme this week - summer.  Yes, I know the last few weeks have had lousy wet weather, but I am determined to make things a little summery right now!  With that in mind, I'm happy to show you Benefit Sun Beam, the latest addition to the "Beam" collection, alongside "High" and "Moon", both of which I happen to adore, but can't find right now ...

Anyhoo, Sun Bean is described as a golden bronze highlighter it's actually very pretty, and a lot more versatile than I thought it would be on first opening the bottle:

Almost an "antique" gold shade, this would be flattering on many skin shades, from the palest through to very dark olive, I suspect.  I'm extremely pale at the moment, and even I find it wearable:

See the pretty speckles?  I'm glad to see that it's not too orange, as that would be very difficult for a lot of people to wear, I think.

As with the other liquid highlighters in the range, Sun Beam is easy to blend, and leaves a lovely glow, without glitter.

It's pigmented just enough to leave your skin with a pretty sheen, and will look great on tanned cheekbones if we ever get any sun this year!

Benefit Sun Beam will be available from June. 



This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.

Tom Ford S/S 2012 Cream Colour for Eyes in Platinum and Spice

Following on from yesterdays peek at the new metallic collection from Tom Ford, I'm going to show you what I would have purchased from the collection if wedd-onomics (what?  It's totally a word) and common sense hadn't kicked in first. Those are the cream eyeshadows in Spice and Platinum.

Love the packaging, (with one minor caveat) from the mock-croc boxes:

I like bar codes, what's your problem?

To the heavy-weight gold-etched glass pots:

To the off-centre sticky labels on the top of the pots.  Hang on!  Crooked sticky labels?  Oh, Tom.

But never mind, it's what's inside that counts, right?

Oh, my, these are lovely.  A silvery taupe, and mid-tone coppery brown, just up my alley!  Let's take a closer look:

Yes, I swatched before snapping.  BAD beauty blogger!

In the pots, Platinum seems much more metallic, and stiffer a consistency than Spice, but this isn't really the case.  The formula for both of these is feather light, lighter even than the bouncy Chanel's we've had recently, and definitely lighter than the Armani Eyes to Kill shadows which have been out for a while now.  They're so light that initially I thought they wouldn't wear well, but I'll get onto that shortly.

The shades are multi dimensional, and rather complex on skin, here are some swatches:

Simple finger swatch:

Macro shot:

The same swatches blended out.

A little of this formula really does go a very long way, especially with the more pigmented Spice, they blend very easily, I created a very nice smokey eye look with these in about 30 seconds flat just using my fingers (something unheard of for me, I'm dedicated to my brushes), and I was very impressed with the finish.

At £28 each though, these are on the pricey side, and, when it comes to that sort of price, I want things to last, so do they?  Yes, actually, I was very surprised at how well these lasted on an extremely damp day recently, they got through eight hours of heavy wear (there was a bit of eye-rubbing), with minimal creasing and very little fading indeed.  Considering you can barely feel you're wearing them at all, I was extremely impressed indeed!  I think Platinum is very quickly going to become a staple for me, as I'll be able to create a simple pulled-together look very quickly on those mornings where thinking is impossible*.

* Weekdays.  Every other weekend.  The weekends inbetween.

The Fine Print Makeup fairy delivery.Don't tell me they don't exist.  I'll cry.

This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved.